You
by SpongeBobAU
Summary: In a bizarre alternate world where all cartoon characters are together, Sir SpongeBob SquarePants, a king of the toons, unexpectedly meets a young boy who desires to be, one day, just like him. However, are dreams really all peaches and cream?


Jeez, what a day. The sun was setting, characters were returning back to their worlds. The party had ended with a blast.

Mickey, Bugs and SpongeBob had hosted the event, which was one of the biggest of the year, following the animated Oscar award announcements. Their partners, Minnie, Lola and Sandy were with them, laughing at their wacky humour as they exited the large building.

Bugs had strolled up to SpongeBob, trying to stop laughing at one of his jokes as he attempted to ask him a question.

"Ey Doc, me n' Mick we're planning on crashing at my place for a few drinks with the ladies; you and Sandy wanna join us?"

"Sounds great Bugs, but I gotta talk to Sandy first, that okay?"

Bugs smiled, "Sure pal."

SpongeBob waved the four off as he and Sandy stood facing each other.

"Hey, so you up for a drink?"

"Heh, sure! Wanna grab somethin' ta take on the way there?"

"Yeah, sounds great. Er, I'll catch up, alright? I just need a little alone time before we, ya know, go wild again."

Sandy smiled sympathetically.

"Sure darlin'. I'll give ya'll a text when I'm at their place an' let em' know."

She kissed him on the cheek as they went their separate ways. SpongeBob began to wander down onto the nearby beach and found a small rock side to perch on, calmly gazing into the deep sunset before him.

** ~ Five minutes later ~**

"Wow, Mr. Squarepants, is that you?!"

A small, kid's voice echoed from a few feet away to his left. SpongeBob was caught off guard, instantly snapping out of his trance. He didn't think anyone was around him for miles.

"Oh, hey kid, yep, it's me." He chuckled, smiling down as the child ran over to him.

"What's ya name, buddy?"

"Mike." He proudly announced, unable to hide his excitement.

"I, I can't believe it's really you! I'm you're biggest fan!"

Mike fell quiet as he quickly looked around where he was stood, a confused expression covering his face.

"But, why are you all alone? Where's Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny?

SpongeBob looked back at the ocean's horizon.

"Oh, they're near, I just wanted to watch the sunset is all."

"By yourself?"

"Well, yeah, it's nice."

"But, what about watching it with someone else? Wouldn't you get lonely?"

The Sponge laughed to himself.

"Kid, when you get to my age, there's times where you _want_ to be lonely. It can be a way to, ya know, catch up with yourself, relax for a while."

Suddenly SpongeBob realised something.

"Where's your parents?"

Mike looked up after kicking a small rock across the white sand.

"Oh, they're down at the other end of the beach. My sister's near, think she's rock pooling or something."

A silent moment passed before the Sponge spoke softly.

"Mike, you wanna sit with me?"

Mike immediately nodded as he scrambled up the rock to sit near the A- lister.

They both stared into the sunset, Mike now amazed at the colours which contrasted so energetically for such a peaceful evening.

Though being a kid, this didn't hold him for very long. He turned to look at his hero, who sat with his hands propping him up from behind, one knee bent up to his chest as he sat with closed eyes, feeling the breeze of the sea flow over him.

"When I grow up, I wanna make everyone laugh, just like you, Mr. Squarepants." Proclaimed Mike, breaking the silence while hugging his side.

SpongeBob's eyes flew open; he was touched, almost brought to a tear as he gazed down at the young boy who had just made his day. He softly wrapped his arm round him, returning the hug.

However, saying that he wanted to be just like him made the Sponge think.

SpongeBob furrowed his brows, raising Mike from him.

"You wanna be a Celebritoon?"

Mike nodded eagerly.

"More than anything, sir! It's my dream to become a top character! I wanna be known for doing big stuff, just like you!"

SpongeBob chuckled under his breath, followed by a deep sigh. There was a lot this little bud needed to learn. He almost felt sorry for him, knowing that everything he's been through, this poor sap will have to experience too. I guess that's just one of the many joys of life. It's kinda like driving. You can control the car, but you can't control what jumps in front of it.

SpongeBob placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen kid, being popular is a lotta responsibility. You have your ups and downs, good days and bad. It's a life changing dedication, and you sacrifice a lot. It's full of permanent decisions that write your entire future, for better or worse. You change a lot for it, and it changes a lot for you. Do you, really think you're up for that?"

Mike hesitated as he looked into the Sponge's bright blue eyes. Even though he was only a Child, the boy sensed a lot of emotion within him. What he was telling him was coming from a complex place, one of both hope and loss. Every word held a backstory.

"Well, I..."

"Mike! There you are, we've been looking...oh! Mr. Squarepants! Is, is that really you?"

SpongeBob looked up to see a young woman standing in front of him. Mike slid down the rock to greet his mother.

"Sorry mom, I just, I found Mr. Squarepants and, I just had to..."

"Hey, it's okay ma'am. He just wanted to meet me. Told him everything he needs to know to make his dreams come true."

He smiled at Mike, who smiled back.

"That's right, mom. He told me to be who I am, and expect a lot of stuffs I haven't been through yet. Life's one big choice that I have to make myself."

He stood with his chest pumped out.

SpongeBob smiled even brighter, knowing that Mike had listened to him.

His mother placed her arm round her son, who glanced up with happy eyes.

"Yep, that's Mikey alright. His biggest dream is to become 'just like you' in his words. I keep telling him not to run before he can walk but it never sinks in!"

She tickled his side, causing him to laugh out loud.

SpongeBob laughed with them.

"Hoho, believe me, I told him that too. That's kids for ya, no matter how old we get, we always hold that kid at heart."

"Well, I'm honoured my son could receive some wise words from one of the most successful characters of all time. It's a pleasure to meet you sir."

"I'm more than happy to help, ma'am. You've got a great kid there."

Mike's mom smiled as she took him by the hand.

"Alright Mikey, lets get you home, it's getting late."

Mike took her hand before looking back.

"Thank you Mr. Squarepants!"

They began walking before SpongeBob called him.

"Oh, Mike!"

Mike turned around quickly.

"Yeah?"

"Call me SpongeBob."

~

_**The End!**_

_**I hope you enjoyed my small story! You're probably very confused, so I'll explain my AU:**_

_**This concept is set where all cartoon characters are actors, and there's one big universe where they can all crossover with each other, like a massive city, where characters that either don't 'exist' yet or are fan works live there entirely until they're made canon and given a universe, which would appear as a 'portal' with all the other universes and be the one you'd see on their show. It's then that the universes you see on TV become their actual homes. There's buildings of the channels such as Nickelodeon, Fox and Disney, that are the 'headquarters' of the 'tooniverse'. Inside them are the different shows that are on the channels; the shows being portals to the worlds; gateways to their homes. Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny and SpongeBob SquarePants are the three big A-list 'celebritoons' that host this once-a-year party after the 'Animated Oscars' where all characters can attend, like a traditional thing. I've recently decided that Homer Simpson could be like a 'chief' character, since he's the longest running cartoon on TV to date, and probably ever. SpongeBob and Homer could possibly work together on certain stuff given they're still on air and have been for 20 years or more.**_

_**I guess for crossovers and stuff, there could be a massive 'simulation' building somewhere in the city near the headquarters where concepts and backgrounds literally get 'drawn to life' creating a fictional environment for characters from different universes to act in, such as 'Roger Rabbit' for example. However for crossovers that take place in canon universes would just happen as said.**_

_**I'm thinking for different styles that characters are drawn in at whatever moment at any canon point, are almost like 'alter egos' that a character can turn into whenever they want. However this would depend if this trait is within how they are as a character (how 'wacky' a character is) and if the design is canon ( if it has been drawn in the actual show the character appears in).**_

_**Mike isn't really anyone; I just made him up for this story, however he could be one of the 'fan characters' that don't really have a popular place in the cartoon universe, and are just free characters with no purpose or design, YET. So I guess you readers could design him however you like!**_

_**If this were to ever be a movie, I guess the messages would be that: everyone is unique, lead your own path, always be yourself, and that life is a journey to finding who you are and what you want to be remembered for. I particularly admire the uniqueness since no character is the same, and that they come in all shapes and sizes!**_

_**I guess what's fun with my concept is that Mike can be any design you think of, which has very creative and inspirational potential. During development for this movie, I would have people create all kinds of background characters to put into the movie, no matter what level of art you're at!**_

_**Even if this movie idea were to be made, it's a massive ground for fans to create characters suited to the style of the film!**_

_**Mike's like an innocent kid looking up to someone he thinks is perfect in every way, however us as viewers know that is not the case, and that even the most amazing characters have problems. Since what we see of them on TV is an act, I tried to make SpongeBob more mature, since he's technically an adult and has a MAJOR responsibility; Mickey and Bugs would be the same. However his personality is mainly what we see of him on the big and small screen, since he's 'drawn that way' like all cartoon characters. (That would be a saying that gets thrown around in this concept a lot hahah.)**_

_**I'm thinking the background music could be that of upbeat jazz and electro swing, especially made for the movie. My idea has so much to it, I don't even know where to begin!**_

_**Hope I've motivated you to think about this concept! XD**_


End file.
